Moose, Mounties, and Maple Syrup: What to Do in Canada for 3 Weeks Without Going Bankrupt or Getting Eaten by Bears

The Great Canadian Itinerary: What to Do in Canada for 3 Weeks Without Driving Yourself Insane

Attempting to experience all of Canada in three weeks would be like trying to sample every item at The Cheesecake Factory in a single sitting—technically possible but resulting in severe digestive distress and regrettable financial decisions. Instead, this itinerary focuses on digestible portions of Canadian magnificence, allowing travelers to actually enjoy what they’re experiencing rather than constantly checking their watches while sprinting to the next landmark.

East Coast Escapades (Days 1-7)

Begin your Canadian odyssey in Montreal, where European charm and North American efficiency engage in a constant cultural tango. Old Montreal offers cobblestone streets flanked by buildings dating back to the 17th century, while downtown sports glass skyscrapers and underground shopping tunnels designed to keep winter shoppers frostbite-free. Notre-Dame Basilica costs a mere $8 to enter, a spiritual bargain compared to European cathedrals charging triple for half the neo-Gothic splendor. Mount Royal Park provides free panoramic city views that New Yorkers routinely pay $40 for at observation decks.

A two-hour drive northeast delivers you to Quebec City, North America’s only remaining walled city north of Mexico. Walking tours ($25-35) offer historical insights into this 400-year-old settlement where locals respond to your high school French with either impressed encouragement or merciful switches to English. The cobblestone streets of Petit Champlain district host shops and restaurants that charge tourist prices but deliver authentic Quebecois cuisine worth every inflated dollar.

Accommodation options in Eastern Canada range from Montreal hostels starting at $30/night (where you’ll share bathrooms with European backpackers who haven’t discovered deodorant) to mid-range hotels ($110-150/night) offering private bathrooms and complimentary breakfast buffets featuring suspiciously pale scrambled eggs. Luxury travelers can splurge on the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Quebec City (from $350/night), a castle-like structure that appears to have been designed by Disney’s historical architecture department after three espressos.

Maritime province enthusiasts might consider a detour to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island—a gorgeous region offering America’s best lobster rolls at Canadian prices, picturesque lighthouses, and enough Anne of Green Gables merchandise to fill a shipping container. However, this addition requires at least 15 hours of additional driving, turning your relaxing vacation into an endurance rally. Choose wisely.

Central Canadian Culture (Days 8-12)

Toronto welcomes visitors with a skyline punctuated by the CN Tower and a multicultural energy that makes Manhattan seem homogeneous. Kensington Market resembles a cleaner, more polite version of NYC’s Lower East Side, while distillery districts and waterfront developments offer countless opportunities to separate you from your favorable-exchange-rate dollars. Adrenaline junkies can experience the EdgeWalk around the CN Tower’s outer ring ($175) while strapped to a harness, or simply visit the observation deck ($43) for terror-free views that stretch to Niagara Falls on clear days.

Speaking of which, Niagara Falls awaits just 90 minutes southwest of Toronto. Visit Tuesday mornings in May to avoid crowds who appear to have collectively decided that weekends in July are the only appropriate time to see falling water. The American side offers closer proximity to the cascade, but the Canadian side delivers superior panoramic views and kitsch attractions like Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museums and haunted houses that have nothing to do with waterfalls. The Maid of the Mist boat tour ($25.25) provides an aquatic perspective worth every drop of water that will soak through your flimsy plastic poncho.

Ottawa, Canada’s perpetually overlooked capital, offers surprisingly interesting government buildings including Parliament Hill (free tours requiring advance booking) and Rideau Canal—a UNESCO site that transforms into the world’s largest skating rink in winter, stretching 4.8 miles through downtown. The city functions as Washington D.C.’s sensible cousin, offering impressive museums without the accompanying political rage.

Food enthusiasts should sample poutine variations across Central Canada, ranging from traditional versions (french fries, cheese curds, and gravy for $8-9) to gourmet monstrosities topped with pulled pork, lobster, or truffle oil ($15-20). The dish serves as a litmus test for how authentic or Instagram-influenced your culinary preferences lean.

Prairie Passage (Days 13-14)

When planning what to do in Canada for 3 weeks, travelers face an existential crisis upon reaching Ontario’s western border: fly over or drive through the Prairies? Crossing 1,300 miles of relatively flat terrain requires significant time investment, while flights from Toronto to Calgary ($150-300) save precious vacation days. The honest assessment? Unless you harbor deep fascination for wheat fields, agricultural museums, or have relatives in Saskatchewan you’ve been avoiding, flying represents the rational choice.

For those committed to seeing every Canadian region, Winnipeg offers surprising cultural depth including the architectural marvel of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights ($18) and The Forks Market (free entry), where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet in a junction that Indigenous peoples have used as a meeting place for over 6,000 years. The city delivers more cosmopolitan energy than Americans expect to find between major coastal centers.

Saskatoon and Regina provide smaller doses of Prairie hospitality, with attractions that reveal themselves primarily to those willing to engage with locals. These cities are either worth a day’s exploration or simple flyovers depending on whether you find agricultural heritage museums fascinating or mind-numbing. The Prairies excel at big skies, friendly conversations, and explaining why the Canadian Football League’s three-down system is superior to the NFL’s four downs (it isn’t).

Rocky Mountain Majesty (Days 15-19)

Banff National Park represents the postcard vision of Canada that Americans imagine when not picturing Mounties or hockey players. Park fees ($10/day) grant access to a wilderness playground where turquoise lakes mirror snow-capped peaks in what appears to be nature showing off just to make other countries feel inadequate. Accommodation options range from $40 campgrounds (where bears occasionally inspect your cooler at 3 a.m.) to $500+ luxury lodges featuring fireplaces and spa treatments.

Moraine Lake and Lake Louise deliver such improbable blue-green water hues that first-time visitors frequently accuse park rangers of adding food coloring when nobody’s looking. Comparing crowd levels to Yellowstone provides context: Banff receives about 25% fewer annual visitors, but concentrates them in substantially smaller viewing areas, creating similar selfie-stick congestion at prime locations during summer months.

Jasper National Park, Banff’s northern neighbor, spans 40% more territory while welcoming half the visitors, offering relative solitude among similar grandeur. Wildlife sightings—including elk, bighorn sheep, and bears practicing their impressive social distancing skills—occur with greater frequency here. The Icefields Parkway connecting the two parks delivers 144 miles of scenery that makes California’s Highway 1 look like a commuter route by comparison.

Hiking options accommodate all fitness levels, from easy Lake Louise Lakeshore strolls (2.5 miles round trip on flat terrain) to challenging day hikes like the Plain of Six Glaciers (8.7 miles with 1,200ft elevation gain). Photography enthusiasts should arrive at popular viewpoints before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m. to avoid the midday Instagram army documenting their spiritual connection to nature through identical poses.

Pacific Coast Perfection (Days 20-21)

Vancouver concludes many Canadian journeys with a sophisticated urban experience nestled between mountains and ocean. Stanley Park spans 1,000 acres (making NYC’s Central Park seem like a community garden), while Granville Island Public Market offers Seattle’s Pike Place experience with 50% less fish-throwing and 100% more Canadian politeness. The Capilano Suspension Bridge ($54) sways 230 feet above a forest canyon, converting even mild acrophobes into temporary believers in prayer.

Accommodation prices reflect Vancouver’s consistently high rankings among the world’s most livable cities: downtown hotels command $200-350/night, while budget alternatives in nearby New Westminster run $120-180/night with convenient SkyTrain connections to central attractions. Vancouver Island beckons just a ferry ride away, offering Victoria’s British charm, Butchart Gardens’ meticulously maintained flora ($38 summer admission), and Pacific Rim National Park’s wild beaches that make California’s coastline appear overdeveloped and suspiciously tanned.

Seasonal Survival Guide

Summer visitors (June-August) enjoy comfortable temperatures between 65-80°F across most populated regions, alongside cultural festivals including Calgary Stampede (July, $18+ admission) and Montreal Jazz Festival (June-July, with many free performances). The season’s primary drawbacks include peak prices, occasional forest fire smoke in western regions, and mosquitoes that appear to have evolved specifically to penetrate American bug spray formulations.

Fall delivers Canada’s most photogenic face from late September through mid-October as Eastern forests erupt in crimson and gold while accommodation rates drop 30-40% after Labor Day. Winter embraces the cold (temperatures ranging from 5°F to 30°F depending on region) with activities impossible during warmer seasons: skiing Whistler’s world-class runs (lift tickets $150+), skating Ottawa’s Rideau Canal, and attending Quebec Winter Carnival (February, $20 pass) while wondering why Canadians seem so disturbingly content in temperatures that freeze eyelashes.

Spring presents mud season challenges in the Rockies (trail conditions remain snow-covered or slushy through May), but rewards travelers with 25-30% lower prices and noticeably thinner crowds in major cities. The season delivers unpredictable weather patterns requiring packable layers and flexible attitudes, much like Canadian politics.

Transportation and Money Matters

Internal flights connect major regions when driving distances would consume precious vacation time, typically costing $150-300 one-way. Car rentals provide freedom but come with potential one-way fees ($200-400 surcharge for different drop-off locations) and winter driving realities that Americans from southern states find distressing (snow tires become mandatory in Quebec from December 1 to March 15).

Public transportation surpasses American expectations in most Canadian cities, while VIA Rail passes (approximately $700 for 21 days unlimited) offer scenic if not particularly expeditious journeys between major centers. Banking considerations include using credit cards without foreign transaction fees and understanding that tipping customs mirror American practices (15-20%) but with slightly less existential guilt attached to the transaction.

Visitors can potentially reclaim the 5% GST tax on accommodations and goods to take home through a somewhat bureaucratic process involving form collection and border declarations. The effort proves worthwhile primarily for large purchases, not the maple-leaf-emblazoned oven mitts purchased for relatives who expressed minimal interest in receiving Canadian souvenirs.